In the prior art, with this type of flexible board connector, the flexible board is inserted with a low insertion force so that there is no pressure from the contacts during insertion of the flexible board. After insertion of the flexible board, a stable electrical connection is achieved by contacting the contacts with a prescribed pressure. This is known as a zero insertion force construction.
For example, as shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, a housing 103 houses and retains a plurality of contacts 101. A slider 105 can slide into housing 103. An operating lever 109 is rotatably supported on housing 103 via reinforcement metal fittings 107. Operating lever 109 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction, and as shown in FIG. 12A, slider 105 is moved towards the left so that it is pulled out. In addition, the front side is moved higher than horizontal plane H. After inserting FPC 111 with a low insertion force, operating lever 109 is rotated in the clockwise direction indicated in FIG. 12A, and slider 105 is moved towards the right. FPC 111 is moved to a prescribed position, and its contact parts contact the contact parts of contact 101 having a prescribed elasticity and are locked (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Number 2003-317838).
However, with the conventional example shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the plurality of contacts 101 that are housed in housing 103 is arranged in one row along a set direction (in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the front-back direction from the paper surface). As a result, there is a limit to the number of contacts 101 that can be housed in the connector, and therefore it is difficult to increase the number of contact parts of FPC 111.
In addition, FPC 111 is inserted when operating lever 109 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction and slider 105 is pulled out, and then after insertion of FPC 111, operating lever 109 is rotated in the clockwise direction to lock it. This results in a complicated operation.